The present invention relates to motors creating mechanical movement and, more specifically, to motors that are designed to displace a piston member using hydrogen as a fuel source.
For a number of reasons, hydrogen has often been proposed for use as motor fuel. One important reason for considering hydrogen as a motor fuel is that, when hydrogen is burned in air to release energy, water is the primary byproduct. Carbon dioxide is not produced, so hydrogen creates fewer greenhouse gasses at the point of combustion than gasoline when used as a fuel source.
In addition, certain primary energy sources, such as solar and electrical energy, do not lend themselves to mobile applications. Solar power does not generate sufficient power on a continuous basis for many mobile applications, and the storage of electricity generated by solar or other means in batteries presents additional problems. These primary energy sources can, however, be readily used to convert water into hydrogen using electrolysis. The hydrogen so produced can be stored and burned at locations remote from the solar or other source of electrical energy.
Currently, hydrogen can be obtained relatively inexpensively from methane, or natural gas, using steam methane reforming; in the near term, hydrogen can thus be produced from methane as long as methane is available cheaply and in large quantities.
In the future, it may be practical to generate hydrogen using either a fermentation process or a photosynthesis process; either of these processes might result in a clean, renewable source of hydrogen for use as a motor fuel.
For these and other reasons, the need exists for efficient, reliable, and inexpensive motors that operate with hydrogen as a fuel source.
The Applicant is aware of a number of attempts to use hydrogen as a substitute fuel for gasoline or diesel oil in conventional internal combustion engines. An adapted internal combustion engine converts the chemical en erg y of t he hydrogen directly into mechanical energy without the intermediate step of acting on a working fluid. The combustion cycle thus may not be optimum for efficient operation of one or the other of the combustion of the hydrogen or the conversion of the released chemical energy into mechanical work.
The Applicant is also aware of an attempt to propel watercraft using hydrogen as a fuel. A water path was created from the bow to the stern of the boat. A combustion chamber was connected to the water path such that water at least partly filled the combustion chamber before each combustion cycle. A hydrogen/oxygen mixture was ignited within the combustion chamber such that the ignited mixture acted directly on the water in the combustion chamber. The water was thus forced out of the combustion chamber and directly out of the back of the boat to propel the boat in the water.
The present invention is a system for converting hydrogen into mechanical energy. In one form, the system comprises a combustion chamber, an ignition system, and accumulator, a propulsion system, and a control valve. Hydrogen, oxygen, and water are introduced into the combustion chamber. The ignition system ignites a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in the combustion chamber. A source of working fluid is operatively connected to the combustion chamber such that expanding fluid within the combustion chamber acts on the working fluid to pressurize the working fluid. The accumulator is connected to the combustion chamber such that pressurized fluid within the combustion chamber flows into the accumulator. The propulsion system comprises a cylinder and a piston member arranged within the cylinder. The control valve is connected between the accumulator and the cylinder to control a flow of pressurized working fluid from the accumulator to the cylinder to cause the piston member to move relative to the cylinder.